Harvesting energy from revolving doors

Remember the Matrix movie and the way humans became grown heat-producing plants to provide for their machine lords? The word “harvesting” gives me the crawls, but luckily harvesting in this world is for our own benefit and energy dependence. Interesting ideas so far are the energy harvesting from gym users or vibrations from trains and human steps. Kinetic energy is everywhere, it is just a matter of how to harness the damn thing and convert it to useful energy. However there are some nice opportunities where kinetic energy presents itself in more organised ways and can be collected more easily. Case in point is Fluxxlab’s revolving door harvester. It can be an all new installation or a conversion to an existing door. Unsuspecting humans rotate the spindle, that then rotates a magnetic wheel, that in turn creates current flow in stationary wire coils. Simple and effective.
It is very difficult for energy harvesting to become a large energy contributor. The revolving door concept is an elegant and admirable effort and I would love to see the wide commercialisation for this and similar ideas. As however practical and financial parameters play a dominant role, I will return on the harvesting issue with more comments and thoughts.

Link: Electronrun

Are OTEC energy islands the answer to our energy needs?

Big problems require large scale innovative solutions. ElectronRun has so far covered solar proposals for the energy needs of the EU and the US. Now OTEC artificial energy islands come as another large scale idea whose main energy source is water temperature differences. The idea is that when we have a difference of about 20 degrees Celsius between warm sea surface water and cold water from large depths, it is possible to drive turbines for energy production.
OTEC means Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion and is a method that was thought by French physicist Jacques-Arsene d’Arsonval. In fact, Georges Claude, a French inventor, proved the validity of the theory with his tests in the 1920s, but unfortunately did not manage to develop further.
There is two OTEC cycle types. The closed cycle uses ammonia that is vaporised by warm surface water, then drives turbines for energy production and is finally converted to liquid by cold water. The open cycle has an extra advantage, that of producing huge amounts of drinking water. There is quite a few ocean areas that offer the minimum required temperature differences, mostly around the equator.
The modern version of OTEC involves the creation of massive concrete islands that will be floating energy production facilities. Thanks to the size and area of those islands, OTEC will be supplemented by energy produced from waves, wind and sun. These additional energy sources will ensure that an island will be completely energy independent.
The idea goes even further to combine many polygonal islands, to create larger islands with higher energy outputs. The facilities will be run by qualified personel living on the islands in shifts, much like ship crews. Additional islands could be used as tanker docks -to transfer fresh desalinised water to the mainland- plant growing areas or even better hydrogen production facilities via electrolysis for the hydrogen economy of the future.
It is estimated that a single island can produce 250 MW, about 50 thousand islands would cover all worldwide energy needs. The OTEC project is now developed by architect and engineer Dominic Michaelis, his son architect Alex and Trevor Cooper-Chadwick of Southampton University. It will be launched this year at Virgin Earth Challenge, Richard Branson’s competition for global warming solutions.
In any case, despite proof that OTEC works, it is a complex project combining not one but four forms of energy sources and is therefore in need of prototype work. The fact that a module can be duplicated without practical limitations is an advantage not only technically but also financially, as construction costs could be more easily harnessed. Solar and wind projects already start to contribute to our energy needs so it is highly unlikely that OTEC would be called to cover all our energy needs. However, the proximity of certain countries to deep waters near the equator makes it a very attractive proposition for consideration.
Link : Electronrun

Road energy system collects solar energy to heat buildings

Think of this system as a massive heat exchanger. Pipes underneath the asphalt carry water that is heated during the day from solar energy and then stored underground for later use. When the weather turns cold, this very same heated water forms the basis for the heating of buildings.
You think it’s a joke? Think better because a Dutch company called Ooms Avenhorn has already succesfully tested the system in a village and a military airport to heat buildings and a hangar respectively. And not only that, the hot water is also used in winter to keep the road ice free, while cold water stored for summer can be used equally effectively for cooling! According to Ooms, emissions are cut by half, while salt for the road becomes unecessary.
In fact the sytem involves absolutely nothing complicated, it is a matter of simple thermodynamics, measuring temperatures reliably, storing in places with good insulation and using the right pumps. And since there is enough heat absorbed in Holland, think of all the solar energy that could be collected from a road here in Greece! But since the local sport is digging roads to install or repair water/sewage pipes, electricity lines, telephony lines and God knows what else, I am not beting on seeing such a system here soon…
Link : Electronrun

How a DSLR can learn from a compact camera

For the last couple of years DSLRs are commanding increased manufacturer interest. Margins here are much better than in the compact and prosumer segments, and products cycles are of the order of 1.5 to 2 years instead of the few months of their smaller brothers. The increase of competition has brought prices down and attracted an increasing number of amateur photographers.
DSLRs have always been seen by photography professionals and enthousiasts as the tools that differentiate men from boys. The first step of closing the gap was the death of film and the darkroom, the later being a major obstacle for many amateurs. Well, like it or not, hardcore or not, in a second step DSLRs now start to have features that we previously expected only from compacts and prosumer models. Let’s see the main ones:
Live view, in other words picture taking with the use of the camera’s screen instead of looking directly through the lens via a mirror.
Foldout screens that do not just sit at the back of the camera but can be aligned as we like and combined with live view allow us to take pictures from difficult angles and positions. If you have ever tried to take frames very near the ground you know how uncomfortable and dirty it can get. Check out the attached photo of a Sony model that will probably hit stores soon.
In-body stabilisation that helps usually by two to three stops and makes all lens much more useful.
Dust protection for the sensor.
Things like programs for different conditions -sports, indoors, etc- are direct descendants of compacts and admittedly are a nuisance for serious photography. On the other end, dust protection has first been used by Olympus and is a nice feature that tries to mimic the sensor cleanliness enjoyed by compact camera users.
Others, like foldout screens, were earlier in the decade those little ”extras” that differentiated prosumer models from the smaller compacts or the larger DSLRs. Now that cheap DSLRs offer the same goodies combined with better results, the prosumer segment seems to be destined for extinction. Brands like Canon and Nikon with strong legacy are reluctant to integrate features like in-body stabilisation, I expect this however to change as competition has made some of those standard.
So are DSLRs destined to function as compacts? I doubt it, even for the very cheap models. The adopted features are designed to match well with camera character. Fanatical photographers would be very critical of meddling with the character of their favorite brand and would never let it happen.
As has been proven by CES 2008, we are currently at the point where new camera models and especially DSLRs can hardly surprise us and generally follow slower evolution patterns. As however the megapixel race is effectively over and models become ever more similar in operation and performance, new paths will be sought. And yet again, the killer new feature is going to be something enjoyed by compact models for years. Do not laugh, it is video and it will become a huge threat to DSLRs if they do not accommodate it in some way or another. In fact there is a new school of thought that believes that obtaining pictures from video frames will become a standard reporting tool and there are already seminars to prove it…
Link : Electronrun

Canon and Nikon command more than 80% of the Japanese DSLR market

Japan is home territory for Nikon and Canon. For both it is not simply a matter of market share but also of prestige and fame. Therefore, the battle is nothing but fierce. According to dpreview the two brands together command more than 80% of the DSLR market. Nikon is ahead with 43.3% and Canon follows with 39.9%. Overall in digital cameras, Canon commands 21.2% and retains the number one spot for the fourth consecutive year. Numbers are up to the end of November 2007 but December is not expected to change the year’s results. The Japanese DSLR market grew in 2007 significantly, 50% by items sold, 35% by value. Predictions for 2008 are also optimistic as in the rest of the world.
Although things feel “business as usual” for the big two of reflex cameras, Olympus, Pentax, Panasonic, Sony & Fujifilm all want a larger share of the more profitable DSLR market. As they all have introduced new models or are very keen to do so in the upcoming PMA, it would be nice to see the share of Canon and Nikon reduced for more healthy competition. As I have written before, the DSLR market is set to change. Integrated HD video is the new big thing in cameras. Expect it to arrive in mass in compacts. The PMA this year is definitely worth keeping an eye on as camera manufacturers prefer it -together with Photokina- to show off all their new babies.
Link : Electronrun